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Attention: the War Dead Register only lists Belgian fallen soldiers.  
The War Dead Register provides basic personal information (name, first name, date and place of birth, etc.) and does not contain military files (giving a complete overview of the military career). According to date of birth the files are kept either by the Royal Military Museum or by the Defence archives service. The files safeguarded at the Military Museum can be consulted on site (Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels). The files kept up till now by Defence are currently transferred to the General State Archives.
The date on which they will be once again available has not yet been determined.   

 

Archives of the Royal Military Museum 

Documentation Centre 
Parc du Cinquantenaire 3
1000 Brussels
E-mail : cdoc.klm-mra@warheritage.be   
Website: www.warheritage.be

Cemetery details

Where?
Heesstraat, 3740 Hees
 
View on map

History 
 

On 30 April 1940 the 18th Regiment of the Line (an infantry regiment of the first reserve units) arrives in the Vroenhoven-Veldwezelt sector, where it comes upon inadequate positions. It entrenches behind the Albert Canal, the only obstacle of any significance. At that point in time the Belgians do not suspect that the German attack is imminent.
During the night of 9 to 10 May German paratroopers perform a daring manoeuvre on the bridges over the canal. They literally drop from the sky in gliders and before anyone realises what is happening, German ground troops invade Belgium. The 18th Regiment of the Line resists but is no match for the Blitzkrieg. It then suffers heavy losses, and the battle will claim many more casualties. 
Hees’s small plot of honour counts four fallen soldiers with the 18th Regiment of the Line. They lie next to the municipal monument under a classic military tombstone. Their picture adorns their tombstone, which is exceptional.

 

Casualties

4 Second World War